Tronsmart Only Ace Pro True Wireless Earphones. Pic: Noel Campion.
While I love testing the latest and the greatest, I fully understand that not everyone is interested in, or can afford, the best and more premium tech. Many just want something that will do the basics without spending too much. The Tronsmart Onyx Ace Pro are Bluetooth earphones that offer good value for money while still providing a lot of excellent features.
The Onyx Ace comes in either black or white. I received the white variant which features a glossy finish on the charging case and buds with chrome accents that give them a premium look. The shape and size of the case are similar to the latest AirPods but it tapers towards the base.
On the front of the case is a chrome section that features four holes with LED lights that indicated the state of charging and battery left in the case. Below this is the Tronsmart logo and on the base is a USB-C port for charging along with a button to manually enable Bluetooth pairing mode.
The lid has a satisfying snap to it when you close it but the hinge mechanism doesn’t feel as solid or tight as more premium cases.
The earbuds closely resemble the original AirPods with long stems and a one size fits all shaped form factor. The outside of each bud has a long chrome section that contains the touch-sensitive area for gesture control of playback and volume. Each side contains two mics and the bottom of the stem has two metal contacts used to charge the buds while in the changing case.
The Onyx Ace Pro use large 13mm, composite polymer drivers, for an impressive sound. You also get IPX5 water resistance and a low latency gaming mode.
Onboard is the Qualcomm QCC3040 with aptX adaptive, aptX, SBC and ACC sound codecs as well as Bluetooth 5.2 support. The latter ensures a range up to 10 meters and a solid connection throughout.
Just like the more expensive AirPods 3, you don’t get any ANC. Unfortunately, there’s no wireless charging option either. Also, there’s no companion app support which is a pity as the Tronsmart app is really good and fully featured when used with their other earphones.
You should get up to 6.5 hours on the buds at 60% volume and they take up to 1.5 hours to charge in the case. Combined with the case you can get up to 27 hours in total of listening time. The case will take up to 2 hours to fully charge.
The touch controls work really well and I always appreciate the ability to adjust the volume directly on earphones rather than have to get my phone out of my pocket as you do on AirPods. However, while the touch is responsive, I found it was too easy to skip a track accidentally and there’s no option to customise the controls or even disable them.
The Onyx Ace Pro are one of the most comfortable earphones of their type I’ve tested. I found I could wear them for hours without discomfort. However, the one size fits all means they may not properly fit everyone.
The Onyx Ace sound really good in isolation, but not surprisingly, they’re not as good as the more expensive earphones. They lack high-end clarity and the bass isn’t as tight or precise as it should be. However, considering how much they cost, it’s hard not to be impressed and unless you’re looking for the best in sound quality, the Onyx Ace Pro will more than suffice for the majority of users.
The Tronsmart Onyx Ace Pro is built well, has a decent feature set and is good value for money. The sound quality is good and the call quality is excellent.
For more, see Tronsmart AliExpress
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